Understanding resilience in later life in a low resource setting

Estimates indicate that close to 60% of the urban population in Kenya live in slums and informal settlements.
Further, a growing number of migrants are ageing 'in situ', resulting in an increasing number of older people
living in slum areas Ageing in these setting can be challenging particularly given the lack of formal support
systems. Given this context, this study seeks to better understand resilience among older people in coping with
stresses and shocks, and how some are able to adapt, and to emerge with better health and socio-economic outcomes
relative to other older people living in the same environment and exposed to the same conditions. A mixed-methods
approach that combines secondary analysis of qualitative and quantitatve data was used to compare individuals'
exposure to shocks and make causal inferences on factors associated with resilience. For the quantitative arm,
longitudinal data from the Nairobi Urban Heath Demographic and Surveillance System (NUHDSS) were used. The data
were collected between 2006 and 2009 in two slums of Nairobi (Korogocho and Viwandani) on an APHRC research program
titled 'Urbanization, Poverty and Health Dynamics (UPHD).The qualitative arm involved in-depth interviews with a
purposive sample drawn from the survey participants.The in-depth interviews seeked to answer how and why individuals
emerged as most resilient on the one hand, or the most vulnerable to shocks.
The findings highlighted factors which predispose some individuals to be more or less resilient than others. This
information is useful for programmes seeking to improve the lives of poor people by enhancing their capabilities
and resourcefulness in drawing upon existing capital.